The game centres around the miner Digger T. Rock, as he spelunks various caves and catacombs whilst searching for the mythical Lost City. The game was the first game to be developed by the newly re-branded Rare, whereas the first game to be released under the company was Solar Jetman, earlier in 1990. Digger T. Rock is also the first Rare game released for a Nintendo console. It was later included in Rare's 2015 Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay.